Now, onto this week...sadly, I don't really have much that I can say for this week. Don't get me wrong, this week was awesome, just as all weeks as a missionary are, and it also had some rougher patches, as all weeks as a missionary do. But to be honest, I didn't pay much attention to any of those points in the week. I mean, really, the whole week, from Monday afternoon when I finished emailing y'all, to Friday evening when I was waiting to fall asleep--it all passed in a frenzied blur. Why? Because both I and my companion had only one thought on our minds--Bryan McKay's Baptism.
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| Elder Weber and Bryan McKay |
Yep, it's official. At two-o'clock on Saturday, March 21st, our friend and Spiritual Brother, Bryan McKay, was finally baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The whole week leading up to the baptism, Elder Tapia and I were rushing about, trying to get people ready and assigned for different parts in the service's program. We needed to know who could play the piano, what songs to be sung, who was willing to say a prayer and who was willing to give the baptismal talks for Bryan. In the end, though, it all worked out great. We even had more people at the baptism than we'd been expecting, with about twenty-or-so members coming with their families, eager to see their newest member and Brother baptized. Bryan's son Morgan even came, which took me and Elder Tapia by surprise, but we were both very glad to see him there.
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| Elder Weber, Bryan McKay & Elder Tapia |
Elder Beste and Sister Beste, the Senior Missionary Couple that had met Bryan, friendshipped him, and taught him all of the lessons, came up so that Elder Beste could baptize Bryan and confirm him a member the next day during Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. It was truly awesome, to feel the Holy Ghost just filling the room as Bryan was brought down into the baptismal font, was fully immersed in the water, and brought back up as clean and as pure as the day he was born. Sister Beste gave a beautiful talk on the importance of the Gift of the Holy Ghost after Bryan had been baptized, and as she spoke, the Spirit in that room just continued to grow and bloom, it was almost hard to breathe sometimes. I know, now more than ever before, that our Heavenly Father is truly proud of the steps that Bryan has taken to return to Him, and proud of Elder and Sister Beste, Elder Tapia and myself in helping Bryan return.
So, today I want to have my spiritual message centered on Baptism. Back in the New Testament, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was asked by the Pharisee Nicodemus how one can return to God. Jesus's response is said as thus; "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Seeing that Nicodemus was confused by his response, Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:3,5) There are several different ordinances or requirements that we need to have in order for us to be able to return to our Heavenly Father and live with Him again. These ordinances are like gates, each one leading to another. The first of these gates is the gate of Baptism--to be born again.
In baptism, the body of the person being baptized is dunked completely under the water and brought back up again. This is done to resemble two things; first, the 'burying' of our old, sinful life and letting it die; and, second, the 'birth' of our new, pure life--one in which we are made Children of God once more. However, when Christ spoke to Nicodemus, he didn't just say that a rebirth by water was the only step we need to take. The confirmation, where the Gift of the Holy Ghost is given, is just as important, if not more so, than the actual baptism itself. With the baptism, we are cleansed from sin and given a new, fresh start to travel to the next gate on our journey back to Heavenly Father. But we didn't get to the gate of baptism without someone helping us. We can't always have someone there to help us find or reach the next gate on our journey. That's why we have the Gift of the Holy Ghost, so that as long as we are following God's commandments and living as He would have us live, we can have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, to lead and guide us on the rest of our journey to our Heavenly Father.
I bear my personal testimony that I know of the importance of both the Baptism of Water, and the Baptism of Fire, or the Gift of the Holy Ghost. There is, as Nephi of old so eloquently stated, "none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God." (2 Nephi 31:21) This is the only way back to our Heavenly Father, and it's only just the first step. It's a long journey, filled with ups, downs, and crazy in-betweens. But I know that our Heavenly Father has given us the tools to make it through. There is nothing in this world that we are going through now that cannot be overcome when we work in unity with our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and our ever-vigilant companion the Holy Ghost. It won't be easy, that's for certain. But nothing that is truly worth it ever is. This I bear testimony of, as a representative of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Well, that's it for me. Hope y'all have a great week, and hope to hear from y'all again next P-Day!
--Elder Z.S.Weber
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